Okay, so first of all, my post from this morning wasn't exactly wrong, but it certainly wasn't right. I was told he wasn't going to Dallas this week, which I took to mean he didn't have an appointment with a doctor this week. Obviously that assumption is not correct as he saw a doctor today. It wasn't the doctor in Dallas, but he saw a doctor. So my apologies for connecting two dots that I shouldn't have connected.
Now, the question is what does the appointment today mean? And I don't know. And I'm not sure anybody knows. Could the surgeon from Dallas be on the phone while looking at his charts and scans and give his insight? Sure. He might be. Might not. There might still be another trip to Dallas, might not. I don't know right now.
Next question: Can he get cleared for anything today and if so, what? Again, nobody really knows. Last week Mike told us the next doctor's appointment was to get cleared for contact, full go. On the radio this morning, Cuonzo said he thought the next step was to get cleared for non-contact stuff. Well, he's been doing some non-contact stuff already at practice. So what's the next step? I don't know. And I'm not sure Cuonzo knows. Sounds like there might have been some wires crossed.
And that's where we get to the crux of this: We're all guessing. Nobody outside the Porter household really knows exactly what is going on here...and I'm not 100% sure they know truthfully. There's not some hard and fast set timeline where everyone knows, "Okay, he's got an appointment here, then if he gets cleared he'll practice and he has to practice for X amount of time and then he can play on Y date." That linear plan doesn't exist right now.
So he's not playing on Saturday. He's incredibly unlikely to play Tuesday. Saturday the 24th at Kentucky is the earliest you might see him on the floor...but I don't think anyone can say with any certainty he'll play then. Is there another medical step? When does it take place? How long does he have to practice for? These are all pertinent questions to which we don't know the answers.
Step one is the doctors have to sign off and say he can do everything. Step two is Cuonzo has to decide how many practices he needs, how to bring him back, what his workload can be, etc. I'm confident if the doctor says he can play he'll play. But that's really all anyone can say with much certainty right now.
I don't really think we'll get anything in the way of a public update. The only way we get that is if it is determined he can't come back and is out for the year. But they're not going to tell us "He can play in this game." I think he'll just play. Maybe I'm wrong, but I don't expect some official statement on it.
Now, the question is what does the appointment today mean? And I don't know. And I'm not sure anybody knows. Could the surgeon from Dallas be on the phone while looking at his charts and scans and give his insight? Sure. He might be. Might not. There might still be another trip to Dallas, might not. I don't know right now.
Next question: Can he get cleared for anything today and if so, what? Again, nobody really knows. Last week Mike told us the next doctor's appointment was to get cleared for contact, full go. On the radio this morning, Cuonzo said he thought the next step was to get cleared for non-contact stuff. Well, he's been doing some non-contact stuff already at practice. So what's the next step? I don't know. And I'm not sure Cuonzo knows. Sounds like there might have been some wires crossed.
And that's where we get to the crux of this: We're all guessing. Nobody outside the Porter household really knows exactly what is going on here...and I'm not 100% sure they know truthfully. There's not some hard and fast set timeline where everyone knows, "Okay, he's got an appointment here, then if he gets cleared he'll practice and he has to practice for X amount of time and then he can play on Y date." That linear plan doesn't exist right now.
So he's not playing on Saturday. He's incredibly unlikely to play Tuesday. Saturday the 24th at Kentucky is the earliest you might see him on the floor...but I don't think anyone can say with any certainty he'll play then. Is there another medical step? When does it take place? How long does he have to practice for? These are all pertinent questions to which we don't know the answers.
Step one is the doctors have to sign off and say he can do everything. Step two is Cuonzo has to decide how many practices he needs, how to bring him back, what his workload can be, etc. I'm confident if the doctor says he can play he'll play. But that's really all anyone can say with much certainty right now.
I don't really think we'll get anything in the way of a public update. The only way we get that is if it is determined he can't come back and is out for the year. But they're not going to tell us "He can play in this game." I think he'll just play. Maybe I'm wrong, but I don't expect some official statement on it.
